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Need Help simplifying & cutting down chore time - Page 3

post #41 of 43
As far as cleaning dishes, switch to paper plates! I really should do this, as I just had a baby a few weeks ago, and had cleaned the house and kitchen the day before I went into my birthing waves (labor). Now it looks even messier than before! You can also get plastic spoons, forks, knives, (I think they may even have biodegradable ones now too) etc so you don't have to do that either.

I hear you about not having any friends or relatives near by, we moved down here a few years ago and everyone keeps to themselves and doesn't want anything to do with us. I feel like a hermit.
post #42 of 43
Totally declutter. Flylady helped me with this too but now I have my own schedule. Once things are decluttered you can do the cleaning really fast. I have one chore a day:
Mon - Bathrooms, T-downstairs floors,etc etc.

Teh other thing I would suggest is to try and get your LO to go to bed at a good hour - like 7pm. Then you can go downstairs and clean up dinner and have the kitchen clear and clean and ready for the next day then relax.

For dinners when DD was that age I would put her on the floor with a good activity that was set aside just for that - scooping dired beans is good though messy - do it on a towel. Then cook. Or sit your LO on the bench.

Now that I have 2 it's harder but it's ok. Babywearing is a lifesaver ebcause you need your hands to toddler-wrangle. Mine are 18 mths apart and I am kind of surviving, but it's really really hard some days.

Oh, we don't have a TV but if you do it's a good "tool" for dinner prep etc!

For lunches, have some easy stuff available - cheese veg fruit, etc
post #43 of 43
The thing that really jumped out at me is how little sleep your LO is getting. 10 hrs a day is not enough at his age. My 12 mo is sleeping 7-7 and 11-1 right now. Hes much calmer than even a week ago, when his schedule was 8-6 and 11-1. Thats just a 2 hr difference, and the only thing i did was move hid bedtime back an hour. I also agree about the food. My little guy eats whatever im eating for the most part. He also still gets a bottle, and will continue to do so until probably 18 mos.

As for streamlining - i do groceries once a week, early sat morning, leaving the baby w DH. W/o the baby, i can do the po, farmers mkt, bakery and 2 grocery stores in 2 hrs. Part of that is knowing what i need and where its located. I dont stroll, i dont go down every aisle, etc.

Our evening routine goes like this: dh gets home between 6&630. Bedtime routine starts at 630, and its all DH. He gets a bath once a week during bedtime. Then he and dh lay on the bed and dh reads to him until 7. 630-7 is when i get the nighttime dipe ready, make bottles for the night, prep dinner and occassionally sit down for 5 min of me time. At 7 i go into the bedroom, change dipe, and put him to bed while dh gets "me" time. When hes down, dh is on baby duty (while hes on the computer - if he brought work home, this is when he does it) while i make dinner, we tend to eat about 8 or so.

After dinner, we relax until 9, and from 9-930 we both clean (this includes organizing & decluttering). This week's project is the kitchen, next week will be something else. We devote 30 minutes each to it and then we're done. He starts his bedtime routine while i pack his lunch, then i do my bedtime routine. We're both in bed by 1030.

During the day, my responsibilities are cleaning up any immediate mess (i.e. Vomit), feeding me and DS 2-3 meals plus snacks, changing dipes and running the dishwasher (loaded the night before). I might have to put dipes in the dryer from the night before. I might vacuum the floor if its feeling gross to my bare feet. We get out of the house once a week usually, and we might take a walk around the block if we need to the rest of the week.

For other shopping needs, we buy staples in bulk 2-3 times a year, and i try to limit target trips to 3/yr. Although im discovering that the things ive been buying at target are often cheaper at the local CVS, which saves on gas, too. I can make the shopping trip our weekly outing and go during a dead time, or i can leave the baby w dh and go during a more busy time. Its probably 50/50. Anything else is purchased online.
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